Inhuman
by WhimsyAndMalice
Summary: A one-shot AU with the Molly/Tonks rarepair. It is VERY fast paced story and contains HEAVY violence, rape and other such issues. There is also HEAVY Arthur Weasley bashing as well as some Percy bashing. Completely unedited so be warned.


_**This is a Molly/Tonks one-shot with a lot of violence, rape and other similar issues, this is your warning. This is also the first in a series of one-shots with rarepairs that I will be doing over the course of the next several months. This story had not been edited or beta'd in any way, shape or form so all mistakes (and there are likely to be many) are all mine. Hopefully you guys like the story, I happened upon the idea when I stalled on my main work, "True Bonds". Also, there is HEAVY Arthur and Percy bashing. All in all, if you don't like any of this then don't read, simple as that. Now, without further ado, I give you Inhuman. **_

An auburn haired girl was walking along the corridor that led to the potions classroom, her head filled with thoughts of finally being able to be alone with her boyfriend later that evening, he had planned something for them but hadn't told her what so the anticipation was killing her. A voice from behind her brought her out of her reverie.

"Marlene! Hold on! Let me walk with you!"

Marlene stiffened, she had successfully avoided Arthur Weasly the last few days but it seemed that her luck had run out. Drawing in a deep breath and letting it out through her nose and turned to face the portly young wizard.

"Alright Arthur, if you must. But do keep up, I can't be late for class, Slughorn has us doing a particularly nasty potion today. I can't afford to get a bad grade on it."

Arthur nodded with a large grin, "No problem at all Marlene, I won't slow you down." He huffed a little as he attempted to keep up with Marlene's longer strides.

"Say, Marlene, I know you've got a lot of studying to do and such but it is Friday after all. Would you like t-"

Marlene stopped abruptly and turned on Arthur with a glare that caused him to shrink into himself. "Arthur, I have told you, time and time again. I Do. Not. Want. To. Go. Out. With. You. I have a boyfriend and I am completely happy with him. Please butt out and leave me alone or I won't be able to keep myself from telling him what you've been up to."

At that Marlene stalked away, entering the potions classroom and slamming the door shut behind her leaving Arthur red faced and angry.

Later that night Marlene and Remus were walking hand in hand down the streets of Hogsmeade, happy and in love. Remus had surprised Marlene with a quiet dinner at The Hogs Head followed by butterbeer and walk around town. He had a plan you see, he was going to propose to this girl and try his hardest to make her as happy as she had made him for the rest of her life. They walked to a small clearing just outside of town where Remus and his friends had set up a small bench with a canopy of leaves over it that kept the snow off of the bench and the immediate area around it. He led her to the seat but didn't join her.

Marlene looked up at Remus with a confused smile on her face.

"Remus love, what are you doing? There's room enough on this bench for the both of us isn't there?"

He gave a nervous chuckle,

"Yes, I think there is but I don't need my seat just yet, there's something I need to do first."

With that, Remus got on one knee and fished a small black box out of his pocket.

Marlene gasped with a hand to her mouth, "Remus, you aren't…"

Remus grinned and opened the box, "Marlene, you are my best friend, my love, my calm in the storm and the source of my happiness even in the darkest of times. Will you make me the happiest man in this life and the next and say yes to being my wife?"

With tears running down her face, Marlene flung herself off the bench and into Remus's arms. "Yes you stupid man, a thousand times yes!"

As she kissed him long and hard, both of them too overcome with each other and their mutual happiness to notice that they were being watched by eyes filled with anger, jealousy and deepening hatred. They didn't know that they had been followed the whole time they were out by none other than Arthur Weasley.

Late that night, long after the occupants of the castle had gone to sleep and the last patrols had been conducted, Arthur sat fuming in an abandoned classroom, stewing in his own thoughts of what he had seen earlier that night. How could Marlene, perfect, beautiful, talented Marlene lower herself to such depths. How could she sully herself with with that mongrel filth? Because that's what Remus J. Lupin was, mongrel filth, sub-human and not fit to be around proper witches and wizards much less engaged to someone like Marlene. But no, he wouldn't waste any more time on that werewolf rutting slag, she no longer deserved his attentions, no longer deserved his love. What the mongrel deserved and what his whore now deserved was to be put down and somehow, some way, Arthur would make sure that it happened even if it was the last thing that he did.

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In the months that followed, Arthur stayed far away from Marlene and Remus, acting as if though they didn't exist. He tamped down his disgust and hatred of them and their friends, closed it away in a box inside his heart and let it fester and rot. With Marlene no longer a possibility for him, he set his eye on the next best thing, a plump redhead named Molly Prewett. She was dumpy compared to Marlene, too much hip and bust for Arthur's taste but she would serve to give him sons provided he could get her under his thumb and keep her there. He doubted that he would have a problem with that though, Molly had always seemed a meek, biddable girl, almost always quiet with her nose stuck in a book or some sort of homework. That last bit didn't matter to him though, because as long as there was food on his table every morning and every night, as long as he was able to have his wife whenever he pleased and as long as she provided him with strong sons, he could give a fig about her schooling. His efforts were rewarded faster than even he thought, with Molly falling prey to his schemes with only the slightest bit of affection on his part. He was quickly able to secure her hand from her parents and as soon as they were both graduated, they moved into a modest home in Ottery St. Catchpole that Arthur's parents had gifted them for the wedding. It was there that Molly Weasley's nightmare began.

A slap rang out across the kitchen followed by near silent sobbing. "How dare you not have dinner ready before I got home you useless slattern! I work hard all day to provide everything for you and for my household and all I ask is that you have food ready for me when I come home! How useless can you possibly be!"

Molly cowered in the corner of the kitchen, trying her hardest not to whimper or make any noise that would set her husband off again. In a soft voice she addressed him, "Arthur, love, I'm sorry, I really am. I promise it won't happen again, I just got a little over tired chasing after little Bill and what with it almost being time for Charlie to be here."

Arthur slammed his fist down on the table, making the plates and Molly jump. "I don't bloody care woman! You should know your duty and follow it, taking care of children and a house isn't that fucking hard. I don't ever want to hear any excuses like that from you again, do you understand me?"

Molly nodded shakily and hurried to serve Arthur the dinner that had finished cooking during his latest verbal assault on her.

And so went Molly's life, full of verbal degradation, beatings and almost daily rape in what was supposed to have been her marriage bed. At this point it was more akin to a prison. The only times Arthur would leave her alone were when she was pregnant and though she loathed bringing yet another child into the world, the respite that she got during her pregnancies was too much of a temptation. She was grateful though, that all of her children thus far had been boys, she was afraid of what Arthur would do if she got pregnant with a girl. That fear proved to be a true one when she came home from St. Mungos after a check up and told Arthur that he was to become a father once again to twins but this time, one of them was a girl.

"A girl? What the bloody good is that going to do me? You couldn't have been any more good to me and given me a seventh son? The magic and luck associated with that would have been amazing but no, you had to go and ruin it with your bloody female weakness! Name her what you want and do with her what you want but my sons will always come first, is that understood you useless wench?"

With tears threatening to flow down her face, Molly nodded and went about her day, making sure to be as scarce as possible around Arthur, she didn't want to make him mad and possibly endanger her unborn son and daughter's lives.

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It was during all of this that the war was raging on around everyone. Molly had almost no knowledge of what was going on as Arthur didn't allow her to have a subscription to The Prophet and she had learned long ago to not ask too many questions of her husband, it never went well for her when she tried. Due to that, she didn't know when Arthur was inducted into the Order of the Phoenix and she wasn't told when people started dying. Even with all of the violence reigning around them, no one was prepared for what was going to happen next, least of all one Remus J. Lupin.

Arthur and Marlene had avoided being placed on patrol together until the rotation gave them no choice on the matter. When Arthur found out that they had finally been assigned together, the little box of putrid jealousy and hatred started to bubble and shake deep inside his heart. They had been out for a few hours, patrolling in silence but in her efforts to keep her distance from him, Marlene failed to notice that they were going farther and farther outside of their patrol range. When she finally took in her surroundings, she started to turn to Arthur with a concerned look on her face only to be met with a stunner to the face. Marlene woke some time later, noticing at once that she was cold, chilled even and even more frightening, she couldn't move or speak. The sound of a chair scraping against the floor sounded somewhere to her right, her eyes darted over but she couldn't see anything past the dark shadows that surrounded her. Just when she thought she was alone again, a voice that she recognized all too well rang out from the recesses of the room.

"Well Marlene, it seems as though I will finally be able to have what I wanted from you so many years ago." He barked out a laugh that held no humor, "But my dear, I don't think you realize that after you betrayed your magic, your family and your very humanity with that filthy beast you call husband, my priorities changed drastically. I once fancied myself in love with you, even thought that I wanted you for a wife but now? Now I'm stuck with Molly Prewett for the rest of my life and you, you don't deserve to so much as to lick my boots with what you've done. For all of your betrayals, you'll be made to suffer a great deal but know this, it's your beloved mongrel that will suffer the most. I'll wait to kill him, I'll wait until he thinks he's healed from you and he thinks that it's ok to move on from your loss and then I'll move on to him and make what I do to you seem like utter childs play. You get to die knowing that that's coming to him, those are going to be your last thoughts."

With those chilling words, Arthur cast curse after curse at Marlene, mangling her and taking her apart piece by piece until there almost wasn't anything left of her to be recognized. Covered in blood and breathing hard, Arthur stood over what remained of Marlene, the little box of hate quiet and dark for now. He knew that he had to make it seem like it had been Death Eaters that had done this to Marlene so he knew that he was going to have to cast a number of curses on himself as well as the morsmordre curse and to finish, a series of offensive and defensive spells so that no one would be able to tell what else he had cast that night.

To say that Remus was devastated was a seriously gross understatement, there was no consoling him and it only got worse after they found out that Marlene had been expecting a child when she had been so brutally murdered. Not even James and Lily could help him in his grief, just being around them and Harry ground his already shattered heart to dust. He didn't last long in England, instead preferring to venture to other countries in an effort to try and heal and forget. He was missed by all but his abcense was quickly eclipsed by the murder of the Potters and the subsequent orphaning of little Harry. A great deal followed that but still Molly remained ignorant of most of it, Arthur only bothering to tell her how and why Voldemort had been defeated. She went to bed that night sobbing to herself that the poor little Potter boy had been left alone.

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As the years passed and Molly grew older, Arthur came to her less and less, preferring, she thought to spend his pleasure elsewhere between younger thighs. Since her last two children had gone off to Hogwarts and she had been left in an empty house since Arthur was rarely home and had finally started to grow more of a back bone where her husband was concerned. Things between them grew colder as the children got older and kept getting into so many scrapes and troubles, always the four of them doing it, always Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny in danger and Arthur never seemed to care, never seemed to want to have anything to do with anyone other than his five elder sons. Their accomplishments and woes always pulled him away faster than anything series of petrifications in their first year merited little comment from him, even when Ginny had been possessed by Tom Riddle's diary and nearly died along with the other three Arthur had only blamed her, telling her that she should have known better than to get herself into such trouble. The subsequent years were marked by just as much trouble, what with the return of Remus Lupin and his DADA posting, the dementors, and the Tri-Wizard Tournament which resulted in the death of that poor Diggory boy. It only got worse from there with the Ministries meddling and the appointment of Delores Umbridge. Molly thought she would die when she heard about the Battle in the Department of Mysteries, her relief was palpable when all of her children (at this point she well considered Harry and Hermione to both be hers as well) returned to the Burrow in one piece. She comforted Harry as best she could but he was brokenhearted at the loss of his godfather Sirius. They all moved on from then as best as they could but none of them were even remotely prepared for the coming storm.

Her four youngest had disappeared during the chaos at Bill and Fleur's wedding, she had expected their absence, they weren't nearly as sneaky or as clever as they thought but even with Molly trying to keep them apart, they still managed to make whatever preparations to leave. No one knew where they were or if they were safe, all Molly knew was that they were all in danger and there wasn't anything that she could do for them.

Weeks later, Arthur arrived home later than his usual time but he was in a worse temper than Molly had seen him in in a great many years. He moved around the house, muttering about a half-breed and how he was going to finally be able to do something about it. Molly didn't understand what he was on about but the more she heard, the worse she felt about it. Arthur was up to something and Molly had the sinking suspicion that it wasn't anything good. After a while, he left the house in a hurry and much to Molly's surprise, got on one of the children's old brooms and flew off in a hurry. Without a second thought, Molly grabbed her wand, hopped on a broom, disillusioned herself and flew off in pursuit of her husband, hoping that she wasn't headed into something that she couldn't handle. She flew for what seemed like hours, only pausing long enough to renew her disillusionment. She kept Arthur at the farthest distance that she dared, not wanting to lose him but not wanting to allow herself to be seen either. It was so cold and just when Molly was starting to drift off, Arthur finally started to get closer to the ground. Molly recognised the area, this was where Andromeda Tonks and her husband Ted lived. She knew the couple from way back when Bill was in school with their only daughter Nymphadora. Their daughter had gotten married not too long ago, and to Remus Lupin nonetheless and had recently given birth to a son of her own, naming the child after her father. What on earth could Arthur be doing here and at this hour?

She watched as he quietly touched down behind the small house and entered with little trouble. Hearing nothing, Molly touched down and got closer to the house. Suddenly, shouts and bursts of light sounded and flashed from the house and Molly dashed inside without a thought to her own safety. The sights inside left her reeling, Andromeda lay partially obscured under a table a trail of blood marking the ground leading up to her. Molly threw herself on the ground next to the woman and nearly sobbed in relief when she realized that she was still alive. She got to her feet and turned to go deeper into the house, terrified at what she might find. As she made her way into the house, there was more broken furniture and more bloodstains marking the floors and walls, what had Arthur done? And why? Going forward she tripped over something and landed hard on the ground next to the lifeless body of Ted Tonks, his eyes frozen open. She swallowed a scream and pushed herself up off the ground, determined to find Arthur and to make him give her answers. She strode forward, as silent as possible, peering into rooms as she passed. One of the rooms yielded a horrifying sight, the mangled body of Remus Lupin, stretched out towards the door as if he had been trying to run from his attacker. Molly finally heard Arthur speaking in low tones in the next room and quietly crept closer so she could make out what he was saying. Poised just outside the doorway, her mouth dropped in horror as she listened to pure vitriolic hatred spew out of her husbands mouth.

"So, the mangy cur managed to find himself another whore eh? And one just as inhuman as he is. And what's worse is that they managed to spawn a mongrel crossbreed like you, I wonder if there's even a name for something like you? Or are you just a gutter mongrel like your father? It's no matter, I'll snuff you out just like I did your pathetic grandparents and that whore that might have been your mother in another life. And when your freak of nature mother comes home, I'll wait for her to see everything I've done and then I'll end her too. Then you'll all be gone and I'll never have to worry about it ever again."

He raised his wand and was about to cast something horrific when Molly stepped into the room and cast a full body bind making him crash to the floor which woke up the small baby in his crib, causing him to start screaming. Molly quickly took Arthur's wand and picked up the baby and pulled him tightly to her chest, rocking and shushing him to quiet him so that he would stop crying and that she could finally address the frozen lump of man that lay silent on the floor.

"You are a hideous man Arthur Weasley, both inside and out. I would kill you where you lay but no, you don't deserve that, you deserve the Dementor's Kiss for everything that you've done and I will do everything I can to make sure that that happens even if it's the last thing I do."

Molly lifted her wand and sent a patronus to the Ministry to send for aurors and then left the room with the now sleeping baby in her arms and went back out to the front room to see if she couldn't set a little bit to rights so that Andromeda could be comfortable and that she would have a space to wait for the aurors that she was sure would be there soon.

Less than a quarter of an hour later, multiple pops of apparition sounded from the front yard with screams following soon after.

"No! My parents and husband and my son are in there, you have to let me past! I have to get to them and make sure they're alright!"

Another deeper voice came out in soothing tones,

"Tonks, listen, you are too emotionally atta-"

Before he could finish what he was going to say, Molly emerged from the house with a small bundle in her arms and a still unconscious Andromeda being levitated behind her. With a strangled scream, Tonks hurled herself at Molly with tears flooding down her face.

"Oh Merlin! TEDDY! MUM!" Clutching her son to her chest she hugged Molly tight, "Thank you, Molly, thank you so much! You saved my Teddy and my m- wait… where's dad? Where's Remus? What happened?"

Molly looked at Tonks with sadness, "Nymphadora darling, calm down. I need to tell you something. Look at me please."

Tonks looked up at Molly with tears streaming down her face, "They're dead aren't they? My dad's and Remus are dead?"

"Yes dear, I'm sorry. I wasn't able to intervene in time to save Ted and Remus but I did what I had to to save little Teddy and your mother. I'm so sorry, sorrier than you'll ever know."

Soon after this, two of the other aurors took Tonks, her mother and little Teddy to St. Mungos, leaving Molly alone with the last one, a tall, dark skinned man in colorful robes and a small matching hat.

The aurors had gone through the house and brought out two sheet covered figures onto the front lawn as well as a still bound and unconscious Arthur. The tall, dark skinned auror knelt next to Molly and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Mrs. Weasley, I'm Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt, you'll need to come with us now."

She looked up at him with blank eyes, the shock of it all finally setting in. "Where are we going?" she asked in a soft voice.

Kingsley looked down at her with a face full of compassion, "We have to go to the Ministry now Mrs. Weasley, after everything that happened here you will need to answer some questions. I will be with you to make sure that this is all as quick and as painless as possible."

Molly nodded and placed her blood streaked hand in his and then they both disappeared with a crack. Leaving the Tonks house empty, dark and silent.

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Molly got through the questioning fairly easily, all she had to do was to offer up her memories to one of the Ministry pensieves and the investigating authorities were more than satisfied as to the cause of death of both Theodore Tonks and Remus Lupin. There was more than enough proof that Molly was at absolutely no fault but it did reveal a great deal about the Weasley patriarch that shocked both the Order and the wizarding world at large. Bill had been recalled from Egypt and Charlie from the Dragon Preserve in Romania to attend to their mother and help her with the issues that had arisen from the whole ordeal. The only ones who were missing were the younger twins and Percy, the latter who had refused to have anything to do with his mother after the incident, choosing instead to believe that his mother was the murderer and that his father remained absolutely in the right for everything that he had done over the years. That steadfast attitude caused an irreparable rift between Percy and the family, all of them to a one choosing to shut Percy out and leave him the only other one with the Weasley name after Molly and the rest of the children chose to revert to Prewett.

Their shared tragedy brought Molly and Tonks closer over the next few months, the younger mother often found in Molly's company at the Burrow, the both of them taking solace in each others company. The small touches and smiles here and there, the way that they would each secretly revel in the others presence and scent, they way that they would try to hide the growing affection that was forming between them. It was too soon yet for anything serious but a small seed had been planted between them and only time would tell if it would take root.

After Arthurs trial and imprisonment, it seemed as if the entire world opened up to Molly, she now received the Daily Prophet every day and kept herself as informed as she was able due to the Death Eater's influence at the newspaper and the inner reaches of the Ministry of Magic. She knew that she and her children were classified as blood traitors and that they were going to have to go into hiding soon if they weren't already too late to do so. Bill and Fleur were already at Shell Cottage and had warded it as well as possible so they were as safe as they could be. Charlie was in Romania and beyond the reaches of Voldemort and his army so that was two of her children that were safe. Her older set of Twins still ran their joke shop and hadn't encountered any trouble as of yet but they were ready to board up their shop and flee at any given moment. It was the four youngest that her heart broke for, she still didn't know where they were or if they were going hungry or what they were doing that was so bloody important that they had to stay gone like they did. She just hoped that they were able to come home soon.

Weeks later, Molly received news from Kingsley that Hogwarts had been taken over by Ministry sanctioned Death Eaters and that Severus Snape had been put into the position of Headmaster. These new developments horrified Molly but she was thankful that at least none of her children were still in attendance but she still feared for the other children that had been forced to attend or their entire families would be forced into Azkaban or worse. A few days later, Tonks was over for yet another visit and Molly was making them both tea when a silvery-blue mare patronus appeared in front of them.

"We made it back to Hogwarts but it's under attack, alert the order! Help us!"

Molly dropped her cup on the floor and was gone, apparating to the school before it could hit the ground with Tonks only seconds behind her.

They arrived to a horrifying sight, smoke billowing up into the sky to curl around the Dark Mark suspended green and terrible above the castle. The two women rushed past the ruined front gates and ran to find save the children that had called them there. In their flight through the castle, they had to stop here and there to defend both themselves and other order members and students that had gotten pinned by Death Eaters and dark creatures. They slowly made their way to towards the Gryffindor common dorms, thinking it most likely to be where the other children had holed up. As they made their way up the stairs, an explosion rocked the walls around them and the stair underneath them collapsed, sending Tonks to the floor beneath them. After the dust settled, Molly rose from the floor and looked around, Tonks was no where to be seen. She peered down to the floor below her and screamed when she saw a tuft of pink hair beneath the rubble. Scrambling she made her way down to to the pile of stone, scraping her hands and arms on the sharp edges of the broken stone stairs and wall. Finally getting down to where she saw the hair, she was about to start flinging the rubble away with her bare hands when she heard a weak cough from behind her. Turning around she saw a sight that made tears start flowing down her face.

She flung herself at the younger woman, "Tonks! You insufferable woman, I thought you were under the rubble! I thought you were hurt or…" Unable to finish her words, Molly simply pulled Tonks close to her chest and pressed kisses to the crown of her head. "You can't go around getting hurt or dying, I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you. I can't lose you. I-I love you you."

Tonks pulled away and looked up at the older woman, a warm feeling blossoming in her chest. Molly's face fell.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. It's too soon for the both of us, please just forget I said anythi-." Molly was cut off as Tonks pulled her into a fierce kiss, both of them melting into each other's arms.

Tonks pulled away, her face flushed and a smile on her lips. "I love you too you silly woman. It is soon, very soon in fact. All we have to do to get there is help overthrow Voldemort save Hogwarts and keep those children of yours alive."

Molly barked out a strangled laugh, "Oh, just a few things then? Should be easy."

A cheeky grin appeared on Tonk's face, That's right love."

She stood and held her hand out to Molly, "Now, how's about we go show old moldyshorts and his cronies what happens when you piss off the wrong pair of witches."

Molly looked up at the woman staring down at her and took the proffered hand and pulled herself up. She grinned fiercely, "Lets."

The two women took off down the corridor at a run, the urgency of their tasks nearly giving wings to their feet. They arrived at a split in the corridor. One way leading to the Gryffindor dormitory, the other to the Great Hall. Molly glanced at Tonks and was about to ask what they should do when a shout echoed from the direction of the Great Hall and the blood drained from her face when she realized who it had come from. "Tonks, that was Minerva, she needs help!"

A look of concern passed over Tonks's face, "I'll go love, you get up to Gryffindor and we can meet back down here when we can."

Molly nodded and went to leave but paused and grabbed Tonks by the shoulder. She pulled the younger woman into a crushing embrace and gave her a quick but fierce kiss. "You stay alive, you hear me? You stay alive and come back to me. I can't lose you, not now when I've just found you."

Tonks nodded and with unshed tears glittering in her eyes, she dashed off towards the Great Hall, she prayed she was in time to save what was left of their friends and family leaving Molly to make her way to the Gryffindor dormitory.

Molly arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady and was horrified to see that the painting was torn and smoking. Swallowing hard, she climbed through the tattered canvas and prayed that she wouldn't see what she feared most. The common room was in shambles, the couches and tables upturned and broken, the fire out and books and parchment scattered around the room. Looking around she caught sight of a pair of boots sticking out from behind one of the overturned couches and carefully went over to investigate. Before she could get all the way there, a loud voice shouted a vicious entrail expelling curse at her, Molly spun and was barely able to block the spell and then shouted out "Expelliarmus!" causing the other person's wand to fly into her hand. She looked down at the new wand she held and realized that it belonged to Ginny.

"Ginny? Ginny, is that you?"

An overly pale face marked with bruises, dirt and blood popped up from its hiding place. "Mum? Mum!" The now sobbing girl flung herself at her mother, desperate for the comfort of her mother's arms. "What are you doing here mum? How did you get in?"

Pulling back, Molly looked at her daughter, "Ginny darling, I am so happy to see that you're alright. I was so afraid that something had happened to you or your brothers. And to answer your questions dear, I couldn't very well leave you all here to fight on your own now could I? And Tonks and I hardly had to fight to get in, the front gates had been blown apart so we were able to just walk in. Now, tell me, what has happened to the others and what on earth happened in here?"

Ginny sighed wearily. "It was pure insanity for a good while there, Death Eaters and students and teachers alike all flinging spells and curses. Lavender Brown and Colin Creevy fell as me and the other Gryffindors were trying to herd the younger years towards McGonagall's office so we could get them out. The werewolf, Fenrir Greyback took down Lavender and poor Colin got caught by a stray curse I think but we had to leave him lying there. There wasn't any time to stop. After that the rest of us retreated here and the twins managed to make the fireplace here open up into Hogsmeade and they were able to get the rest of the younger years and the injured people out but we were attacked by the Lestrange brothers before we could get out ourselves. During it all, the fireplace was destroyed so Neville, the twins, Oliver Wood, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson and Elnora Grossmer and myself have been taking turns to guard what's left of the common room."

Molly hugged Ginny to her again, tears spilling down her face at the thought of almost losing not one but three of her precious children. The other remaining occupants of Gryffindor slowly filtered into the common room, relieved to finally see an adult that wasn't actively trying to kill them all.

"Are you alright other than that though Ginny darling? I have to go find Tonks and make sure that she's alright, I left her going to the Great Hall to help the others there, it seems that Professor McGonagall was leading the charge in the battle against the main group of Death Eaters there so they are likely needing help about now. If you'd like I can help you ward you all in here or if you're willing, you can come with me but Ginny, please consider staying here with your friends, I couldn't bear it if something were to happen to you or your brothers."

Ginny drew a deep breath and let it out slowly through her nose, "No mum, I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we are tired of being pushed back and beaten down. If we are going to win this, then we need every wand possible to make sure that we don't lose more than we already have. Merlin knows what Harry, Ron and Hermione are doing but they said it was important so we need to give them as much time as we possibly can, don't you think?"

Molly nodded with a look of resignation on her face. "Very well, let's be off then, we don't have a bit of time to lose."

At that the group left the common room at a run, desperate to reach their friends.

Molly entered the Great Hall, her eyes darting around and taking in all of the wreckage and carnage, bodies littered everywhere between dueling witches and wizards. A loud and demented cackle sounded from the left side of the large room, drawing Molly's attention to a sight that both horrified her and shook her out of her stupor. Tonks, her stupid, brave Tonks was dueling her aunt, the infamous Bellatrix Lestrange and she was losing. She watched as Bellatrix sent spell after spell speeding towards the woman she loved and she could stand it no longer. She leapt up onto the table and with her wand raised and put herself between the two women. "Not my woman you bitch!"

The exclamation only made Bellatrix cackle once again and renew her vicious assault. Molly parried each spell and fired off many of her own, her wand slashing and twisting as she slowly pushed the dark witch back, the floor cracking with heat at the onslaught of their battle, both of them fighting to kill. A crack in the floor unsettled Bellatrix's balance and the ever so slight balance gave Molly the opening she needed to cast a spell she never thought she ever thought she would use. The jet of sickly green light travelled faster than Bellatrix could react and slammed into her, the shock filling her face and the life leaving her face as she toppled to the stone floor below. Molly ran to Tonks and pulled her into her arms and kissed her soundly, not caring who saw them or what anyone thought, only caring that they were both alive.

The battle raged just a while longer, the intense fight between the apparently resurrected Harry and the furious Voldemort ran from courtyard to hallway to tower and back again with them both being so evenly matched it was terrifying. Finally Harry managed to press his advantage and he took out Voldemort and they all watched as his lifeless corpse hit the broken flagstones.

The days following the Battle of Hogwarts were hard ones, there were dead to bury, trials to be held and a school to rebuild but the toll the war had taken was a heavy one and not something to be soon forgotten. The Weasley family along with Harry and Hermione retired to the Burrow to grieve and recuperate from the trauma that they all shared. Some weeks after they all returned to The Burrow, Molly was cleaning the kitchen when a knock sounded on the front door.

Molly dried her hands on a small towel she had threaded through her apron and went to find out who was calling on them at such a late hour. She opened the door and was stunned to find a slight, pink-haired woman with tears running down her face.

"Molly, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I disappeared after the battle because I couldn't face you or anyone else. I just needed to get my head sorted, I wouldn't have stayed away otherwise. I promise it wasn't you, I promi-"

The younger woman's words were cut off by Molly's fingers gently placed across her lips.

"Nymphadora darling, do shut up."

With those words, Molly pulled a stunned Tonks into her arms and kissed her, leaving them both devoid of rational thought. Molly finally pulled back just enough to rest her forehead against the other womans.

"We both made mistakes my love, and we both could have done things differently but here we are, together and alive. And that's all that matters. Now, if you'll come inside, I'll put on the kettle and we can talk over a cup of tea. How's that?"

Tonks smiled and nodded,

"Alright Molly, I'd really like that."

Both women went inside the house and closed the door behind them but where that one closed, another opened to a bright future full of promise and happiness for them both.


End file.
